Rogers Park murders: Reward soars, progress slow

Chicago police and Rogers Park community members on Thursday announced that the reward leading to the arrest and conviction of a gunman who randomly killed two men in the neighborhood five weeks ago has been raised from $23,000 to $150,000.

Investigators have received over 430 independent leads,” Johnson said, “we are still asking for more help….Someone out there…knows who this person is.”

But, Johnson admitted, police do not have any photos or video of the killer other than those that were released to the public one month ago. And the number of police resources dedicated to the investigation is “not quite at the same number” as the forty who were working the case in early October, Johnson said. No new information about the killer or the killings was released at the press conference, though Johnson repeatedly expressed hope that there will not be a third victim.

The murderer's motive may not be known until he is in custody, according to Johnson. But, the superintendent said, investigators have found no connections of any kind between the killer’s two victims, Willard "Douglass" Watts and Eliyahu Moscowitz. Police continue to believe that the two men, killed one day apart, were selected at random on the street.

The boost in reward money came from private donors, including the Rogers Park Builders Association, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, community activist Raul Montes Jr, Crime Stoppers of Cook County, and an anonymous private donor who contributed on behalf of the Moscowitz family. Johnson said the reward is the largest privately-raised bounty offered for a homicide suspect in Chicago history.

Anyone with information about the cases may submit tips to Area North detectives at 312-744-8261 to Crime Stoppers at 800-535-7867 or anonymously at CPDTIP.com